Ask the Author: Mira Bartok
Answered Questions (8)
Mira Bartok
Hi Cassidy! I'm SO sorry for the delay in responding. I am rarely on Goodreads these days.
I'm glad you like the audiobook. I know the narrator and he's fantastic. And yes, I AM writing the second Wonderling book. It will be out next year. It's in the final editing process and I am also in the middle of working on the illustrations. I did all the art for book one too. The movie is in limbo. Right now, Disney has it sitting on a shelf somewhere. :-) But hopefully they'll start moving on it once book 2 comes out. Some movies take a long, long time! Thanks for writing! Mira
I'm glad you like the audiobook. I know the narrator and he's fantastic. And yes, I AM writing the second Wonderling book. It will be out next year. It's in the final editing process and I am also in the middle of working on the illustrations. I did all the art for book one too. The movie is in limbo. Right now, Disney has it sitting on a shelf somewhere. :-) But hopefully they'll start moving on it once book 2 comes out. Some movies take a long, long time! Thanks for writing! Mira
Mira Bartok
Hi Grace! Thanks for your question. The answer is YES! I am working now on book 2, revising my first draft. After that will come sketches and final art. The book will come out in 2023 because of: 1. covid causing delays in publishing and 2. I had a brain injury (my third) in 2018 and it took a while for me to write again. But I'm back on the saddle and book two is clipping along now! It will be called The Wonderling: Singing Tree, and all the old characters are there along with a couple new ones, AND a magical island!
Mira Bartok
For the WWII novel I'm working on now, I got my idea from two places---one was a story a friend told me while I was living in the Arctic in a Sami village in the late 90s. The other idea nugget came when I met a Jewish man who had been helped by Norwegian Sami reindeer herders during World War II. Plus, all the time I spent in that beautiful, mysterious place.
Mira Bartok
I don't wait for inspiration. I just show up at my desk and write. Usually what I write at first is a bunch of ca ca but eventually, something starts to emerge that's not too bad. But for inspiration, when I'm not at my desk, I draw, I look at picture books, I look at art books, listen to music, and read great writing.
Mira Bartok
You get to learn about a million different things and then write about them without having to become an expert. :-) Also, what's better than telling stories?
Mira Bartok
I've only gone through it once and that was during this horrific pandemic. I wrote the first six months, then had trouble a couple months after I turned in my last manuscript. What helped was asking another writer to be my writing buddy. We started meeting on the phone or on zoom once a week to share work and give each other encouragement and feedback. It took about a month but we are both back in the groove, thank goodness!
Mira Bartok
Read. Read. Read. And find great readers and mentors.
Mira Bartok
While I'm waiting for my editor to send my edits back for Wonderling 2 (called Singing Tree), I'm working on a YA novel set above the Arctic Circle in Northern Norway. It's about a Sami girl who meets a Jewish boy in hiding, which is when their adventure begins. A lot of real life events occurs but there are magical elements too. I'm also illustrating it. AND...I'm also working on a couple of picture books for younger children.
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